Ma première semaine à l'étranger!

"My first week abroad!"

Wow! What a week!  I guess I should start all the way at the beginning!

Sunday, February 3rd:

We left home at around 11am to head to Montreal airport to get my plane.  The drive was easy but a little long at three and a half hours. After saying my goodbyes to Mom and Dad, I went in to check in! Pierre Elliot Trudeau Airport was the most confusing I have ever seen.  All of the kiosks show signs for check in for all of the other companies.  So as I stood trying to check in to my AirTransat plane, I was actually at an AirFrance kiosk.  This happened about four times until I found a person to help check me in.  I had to pay an extra $100 for my second bag, but I figured that it would be worth it in the long run and I would be able to bring a bit more with me.

I had purchased "Option Plus" which allowed me to pick my seat, board first, and have many extras along the way.  Just after take off, the flight attendants gave me a small bottle of champagne and a travel set with a pillow, blanket, eye mask, and other useful things.  The coolest thing though was my swanky jet.  The plane was amazing! Three rows of seats were lighted by softly, slowly changing colored lights.

Each seat had an iPad-like device on the back.  Usually international flights have small screens but these were HD quality tablets!

Monday, February 4th:

We landed a little later than expected because we had left a little late.  I got my bags and went to find the group at Terminal 2.  At CDG, to go from Terminal 3 to 2, you need to take a tram.  I was lost and couldn't find the tram for the life of me.  That was because it was a ten minute walk down passed the building, across the road, and through a train station!!  I finally got to the group and was sent to the hotel where I napped, showered, and went out to eat for our welcome dinner.  The group advisor, Anne Marie, is wonderful! She lived in NYC for a while when she was a bit younger and is pretty funny!  It was a wonderful first day.

Tuesday, February 5th:

Lots of mandatory orientation and stuff, mostly about safety and transportation.  We left for our permanent housing after orientation.  I live at the Fondation des Etats Unis in the 14th arrondissement with many other students.  When I first saw the room, I was a little sketched out.  It looks very old, needs to be painted and refurbished, and could use a carpet.  I actually have grown to like the room though! Its just enough.

Fondation des Etats Unis where I am living!

Ample closet space!

Later that night, we took a walking tour of Montmartre.  I love this section of the city! This part of the city is where all of the artists used to live and was home to many wineries!  On top of the hill of Montmartre sits a beautiful basilica known as le Sacre Coeur, or Sacred Heart.  The views of Paris are amazing.

Panoramic from the top! The Eiffel Tower is just behind the trees to the right!

Vineyard

Wednesday, February 6th:

After more orientation, we had some free time around the Notre Dame and Île de la Cité region of Paris.  We had lunch at a small Americanized cafe and headed to the Pont Neuf for a Bateau Mouche tour of the city.

Notre Dame

Thursday, February 7th:

I did my own thing. I woke up late and took the optionality of the scheduled events in my favor.  At around 2 pm, I took a walk down the boulevard to Porte d'Orléans where I found many shops, cafes, and boulangeries.  I loved it! I had lunch at McDonalds just for the experience, found some new jeans, and bought a new book to read!

Friday, February 8th:

We had some more orientation in the afternoon, but the rest of our day was free.  Hannah, Kristina, and I decided to go out later that night.  We were attempting to go out with our new neighbors from UCONN that live on our floor, but decided to leave before the group left.  We went to the bars near the Sorbonne, just behind the Pathéon.  They were wonderful! We met some French women who gave us a "to do" list for Paris! They were wonderful.

I think the most amazing part of the night was the walk back home when we were standing in front of the Panthéon and had a clear view of the Eiffel Tower in the distance.  It was magnifique!

Saturday, February 9th:

We went to the circus today! It was amazing! The acts were not the same old commercialized acts as in the states! These were classic circus acts, like knife throwing, tiger training, and even pole dancing! After, we went out for a night on the town.  We sat at a bar that accommodated our musical taste as well as our stomachs with the Beatles, Ke$ha, and some Carly Rae Jepsen.

Many more pictures from the circus on my Facebook and, soon to be, on my Flickr page!
Sunday, February 10th:

For the most part, I laid low.  I took a walk down to Porte d'Orléans again in hopes of finding a pharmacy that carried my allergy medications.  I totally forgot it was Sunday and that all but a few stores were closed but was lucky enough to find a pharmacy that was open and carried a similar product.

Later that night, some of the people from API relaxed in the basement of the Fondation, watched some TV, and played pool.


Monday, February 11th:

Today, Lacey and I went on an adventure! We decided that it was time to use our free student meal cards and went to find where we could use them.  We ended up just off the RER B line at Port Royal at the CROUS restaurant there.  We were very confused on the system, so we kind of just hurried through the food line.  We had spaghetti with meat sauce, a small salad, and some yogurt.  After five minutes of finding a place to sit, we found one with two French students who seemed very nice.  The meal was not that bad, but the fact that we were the only two Americans in the building and had no clue what to do was really nerve wreaking.

After the meal, we took the metro to the Champs Élysées where we bought some macaroons at Ladurée.  Ladurée was founded in the late 19th century and makes the most famous Parisian desserts for customers all over the world.  The store was amazing! In fear of breaking a code of etiquette, I only snapped one photo of the display case of boxes.  These were by far the best desserts I have ever had!

We took our desserts on the metro and headed to the Marais district off of the metro line 1, St Paul stop.    We met our group and went on a guided tour of the district, learning about its ancient past, beautiful buildings, and its importance as the gay and Jewish area of the city.

St Paul's in the Marais

Je suis prêt ! Allons-y!

I am ready! Let's go!

With so much happening lately, I haven't been able to post! 

In my last posts, I talked about the visa process and how it wasn't officially over for me.  Well, now it is!  I went to the city a few weeks ago with my mom for the day.  We got to the consulate and separated for a bit.  While my mother was busy sipping coffee in a cafe on Park Ave, I was sitting for about thirty minutes in the office at the consulate waiting to be called.  When you go back for your second visit, all you need is your visa and the slip of paper that they give you during your first visit.  (That is, to say, unless you forgot some forms before and were told to return with them) 

The wait wasn't too bad! I think it was because of the man screaming back and forth with the worker about having the wrong passport!  Listening in was pretty great and helped to pass the time.  I thought she had called my name so as I was standing behind the man screaming, I was secretly dying and hoping that I was right and my name was called.  I did NOT want to be on her bad side!

Man: NO! This is ridiculous! I am leaving! You owe me an apology!

Worker: I do not owe you anything sir! Wait here and I will get your things!

Man (upon leaving): VIVE LA FRANCE!

Worker (with a smile to me): Hello! How can I help you?

Me: I thought you had called my name?

Worker (giggling): No, but we will momentarily! Hopefully you will be in the next group! 

After being screamed at by some random man for about ten minutes, she was chipper and delightful to me! If that isn't a broken stereotype, I am not sure what is! 

Anyways, I was out after about 20 more minutes with my visa in my passport!  This was the last big thing between me and France.

Today marks three days until I leave!  I have been having late nights, not being able to sleep.  I have a pile of all the paperwork that I am bringing and have started mentally noting what needs to be packed where.  Yesterday, I went through my drawers and took out all of jeans, pants, shirts, and coats I will be taking.  Surprisingly, they should all fit in one suitcase! 

I've put most of them in the suitcase, already.  I have about six or seven pairs of different colored pants, boxers, socks, twelve new shirts (mostly H&M), and a few pairs of shoes.  I still have to put in a couple jackets and my two suit coats, but they should fit! If they don't, I have another smaller suitcase I can pack, too.  I figure that paying the extra $40 dollars or whatever the fee is for checking a second back is not bad at all if you think about it.  I'm going to be spending five whole months abroad and having those extra shirts/jackets will be really useful in the long run.

I am bringing my laptop, iPhone with two rented SIM cards from PicCell.com, my DSLR, a smaller digital camera, and maybe my iPad.  From my visits before, I have two travel adapters to convert my plugs to the European plug, but bought another to be safe. I am also going to bring a planner, journal, USB drive, some folders, and other stationaries as I hear that folders are ridiculously expensive abroad and take up minimal suitcase space.

It may sound strange, but I am most nervous about finding my way from the terminal that I will land in at Paris to the group meeting spot at another terminal.  Also, I am really hoping that they send us to the hotels in a few different groups.  I get there at 7 AM but there will be people waiting until noon for other students to arrive.  Not to sound like a DK (drama king) but if I have to wait five hours at the airport, I may just go crazy.

Anyways! I am going to try to sleep! As of right this minute, my "European Adventure" begins in:

2 days 17 hours and 36 minutes!

Woot!!! Woot!!!